New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Michael Harrison is leaving his position after nearly three decades on the force, according to a city spokesman. The NOPD confirms he has accepted an offer to become Baltimore’s next police commissioner.

In a statement, Harrison said serving as police superintendent the last four years, “has been the highest honor and privilege of my 28-year-career" with the NOPD. "This city and its people will forever hold a special place in my heart.”

A city official with knowledge of the situation said Harrison is scheduled to depart his job in two weeks.

Like New Orleans, Baltimore is operating under a federal consent decree, though New Orleans is further along in implementing the mandated reforms. As in New Orleans, Baltimore entered into its agreement after the U.S. Justice Department released a report detailing longstanding patterns of racial profiling and excessive force within the city’s police force. Both cities also struggle with high violent crime rates.

WBAL-TV in Baltimore says Mayor Catherine Pugh announced her selection for police commissioner Tuesday (Jan. 8) based on recommendations from a search panel. Harrison has said he didn’t apply for the job and initially turned it down.

City Councilwoman Helena Moreno said in a statement she spoke to Harrison Tuesday morning and thanked him for “his exceptional service to our city.”

“I’m sad to see him leave NOPD, but happy for him personally as he takes on a new challenge in Baltimore. I’m proud of the work Chief accomplished as NOPD’s leader: from his unwavering commitment to constitutional policing and deep community engagement to his effectiveness at lowering violent crime, to his focus on building an impressive and diverse leadership team around him," Moreno said in the statement. “New Orleans’ loss in Baltimore’s gain."

“He will bring not only significant and relevant experience to addressing the challenges of Baltimore, but the insight and sensitively needed to reestablish essential trust and confidence of citizens in their police officers."

Federal intervention in Baltimore’s police force is in early stages. NOPD, which entered into the consent decree in 2013, is approaching full compliance, while Baltimore’s consent decree was authorized in early 2017.

Harrison has been lauded by a federal monitoring team and the federal judge who oversees consent decree compliance for his leadership implementing reforms, though a shortage of officers, 911 wait times and high per capita violent crime rates remain ongoing challenges for NOPD.

The superintendent leaves as New Orleans, at the end of 2018, marked the lowest number of murders in nearly half a century — 146 — though the drop is not enough to pull the city from its perennial spot on a short list of mid-size and large cities with the highest murder rates. Baltimore’s murder rate ranks higher.

According to Jeff Asher, a consultant and analyst who worked as a crime analyst for NOPD from 2013 to 2015, an estimate of 2018 murder rates puts Baltimore in second for the highest murder rate in the United States among cities with a population of 250,000 and larger, and New Orleans holds the fourth spot. Asher cited a murder total for New Orleans of 145, as the police department did not publicly confirm the last murder of 2018 until Jan. 2.

St Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans, and Cleveland likely had the nation's five highest murder rates (per 100k) in 2018 for cities over 250k. pic.twitter.com/FImHhvI5bG

It was not immediately clear who would fill the top spot in the New Orleans Police Department following Harrison’s departure, or when the search process would start.

News of Harrison’s hire comes after Pugh’s previous nominee, Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald, withdrew his name Monday after his son had a medical emergency, the Sun reported. The paper said since Fitzgerald’s nomination had been announced in November, he had faced scrutiny and some opposition, including from the Baltimore City Council.

The Sun says the Baltimore Police Department has been without a permanent leader since May, when the commissioner resigned after being charged with failing to file federal tax returns.